A new report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety concludes there is no scientific basis for setting legal limits for marijuana and driving. These limits are arbitrary and unsupported by science, the group says.

States that allow recreational use of marijuana have legal tests for driving while impaired by the drug, the Associated Press reports. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is calling for repeal of those laws. Read further by clicking here.

The Lancet Psychiatry recently reported that mental illness costs the global economy $1 trillion each year. In the United States alone, it’s estimated to cost approximately $105 billion in lost productivity and nearly $200 billion each year in lost earnings. Approximately 30 percent of total disability costs are due to mental disorders. These numbers have increased between 1990 and 2013 as the number of people with depression and/or anxiety around the world increased by nearly 50 percent. Disasters and ongoing conflicts continue to contribute to these increases. Yet, governments spend, on average, only 3 percent of their health budgets on mental health. For individual well-being……click here to read full article.

Expert occupational therapist Megan Elizabeth Driscoll and our research team spent 60 hours ranking every state to find the best places in the U.S. to live with a disability. The top three states for 2016 were Colorado, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

Methodology

Our expert

Our research was guided by Megan Elizabeth Driscoll, MOT, OTR/L. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Megan is an occupational therapist specializing in both orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation. She is currently a facility director for one of the largest rehab service providers in the state of Pennsylvania, overseeing all occupational and physical therapy, as well as vocational rehabilitation services. Megan and her colleagues work daily with people with disabilities, helping their quest to achieve physical independence through a combination of both treatme…..

Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit:

Recovery is possible and needs to be resourced

On March 29th, President Obama joined individuals in recovery, family members, medical professionals, law enforcement officials and other leaders at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Georgia to escalate the fight against the prescription opioid abuse and heroin epidemic, which is claiming the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year.

The President stated that addressing this epidemic is a priority for his Administration, and that actions being announced represent further steps to expand access to treatment, prevent overdose deaths and increase community prevention strategies. These actions build on the President’s proposal for $1.1 billion in new funding to help every American with an opioid use disorder get the treatment they need.

Specifically, the President announced the following Administration actions:

Expanding Access to Treatment, which included: increasing the current patient limit for qualified physicians who prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorders from 100 to 200 patients; $94 million in new funding to 271 Community Health Centers across the country to increase substance use disorder treatment services, with a specific focus on expanding medication-assisted treatment of opioid use disorders in under-served communities; $11 million in new funding for up to 11 States to expand their medication-assisted treatment services; distribution of 10,000 pocket guides for clinicians with a checklist for prescribing medication for opioid use disorder treatment; and trainings to increase the number of doctors qualified to prescribe buprenorphine.

Establishing a Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force, which involves the creation of an inter-agency Task Force, to advance access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment; promote compliance with best practices for mental health and substance use disorder parity implementation; and develop additional agency guidance as needed.

Implementing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity in Medicaid, which involves a rule to strengthen access to mental health and substance use services for people enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans by requiring that these benefits be offered at parity, meaning that they be comparable to medical and surgical benefits.

Preventing Opioid Overdose Deaths, which involves a new $11 million funding opportunity to States to purchase and distribute the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone, and to train first responders and others on its use along with other overdose prevention strategies.

Expanding Public Health-Public Safety Partnerships to Combat the Spread of Heroin which involves the Office of National Drug Control Policy expanding its heroin initiative by adding Ohio and Michigan to the effort. These States will join the Appalachia, New England, Philadelphia/Camden, New York/New Jersey, and Washington/Baltimore HIDTAs in accelerating local partnerships between law enforcement and their counterparts in public health to combat heroin use and overdose.

Investing in Community Policing to Address Heroin, involving a $7 million funding opportunity, called the COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program, to advance public safety and to investigate the distribution of heroin, unlawful distribution of prescription opioids, and unlawful heroin and prescription opioid traffickers.

Tackling Substance Use Disorders in Rural Communities which involves a $1.4 million Rural Health and Safety Education Grant Program to enhance the quality of life in rural areas through health and safety education projects including a focus on addressing the critical challenges related to substance use disorders in rural communities across the country.

Implementing Syringe Services Programs which includes the issuance of guidance regarding the use of Federal funds to implement or expand syringe services programs for people who inject drugs.

A 20 minute video on opiate addiction in Ohio, including updated statistics, addiction theory, how medication assisted treatment may be utilized, inspiration from judges, and a call to action issued by our own Chief Justice. It is a follow-up video to the Judicial Symposium on Opiate Addiction, which took place in Columbus on June 30, 2014. Please click HERE to view the video.

Are you financially ready for a disaster? Have you ever even asked yourself that question? Click here to become educated on this topic. Additional resources may be found at http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/96123

BATAVIA, Ohio (Jan. 26, 2016) — The Clermont County Opiate Task Force invited our three state legislators – Representative John Becker, Representative Doug Green, and Senator Joe Uecker – to its monthly meeting on Jan. 14. One of the areas of focus for the Opiate Task Force is advocacy, and the group wanted to hear from the legislators about bills and issues being discussed in Columbus, as well as share concerns and needs with the legislators.

Sen. Uecker started the meeting by summarizing the many bills passed by the Ohio Legislature over the past few years related to addiction, particularly focused on those involving prescription drugs and heroin. Reps. Becker and Green added their perspective on bills passed and pending in the House. Members of the Opiate Task Force then provided information on the group – how and why it was started, its action plan, and the four primary areas of focus outlined in the plan: Prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and supply reduction.

For over an hour, task force members shared information and stories with the legislators. Some of the topics addressed included:

The rising cost of naloxone (Narcan) and the financial impact on local fire and EMS departments that are responding to more and more overdoses

The need for additional resources for treatment services

The impact of Medicaid expansion, which now provides funding for many individuals with addiction

The toll on families and communities as increasing numbers of people become addicted to opiates and more die due to overdose.

The legislators were clearly impacted by the community members who attended to tell their stories of loss and frustration, caused by losing loved ones to addiction, and the children either born addicted or who lose parents to this disease. Rep. Green shared his personal story of how he has been affected by the addiction of a family member, which led him to sponsor legislation to help get more pregnant women into treatment.

The legislators thanked the Opiate Task Force for helping to educate them about this issue and for their service and dedication to helping people achieve recovery. The meeting served as a step toward additional communication with our state representatives to keep them informed of the many programs and services being provided in Clermont County, as well as the many unmet needs to successfully address the heroin epidemic in this community and throughout Ohio. ######

(Photo: The Clermont County Opiate Task Force in May 2015.)

For more information, contact Karen Scherra, Executive Director of the Mental Health and Recovery Board, kscherra@ccmhrb.org.